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Jai'len Josey of Atlanta, Ga., who played Effie in Dreamgirls, won Best Actress at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards

Jonah Rawitz of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Chicago, Ill. and Jai’len Josey of Tri-Cities High School in Atlanta, Ga. scored Best Actor and Actress honors at the sixth annual National High School Musical Theater Awards Monday night at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, where The Lion King makes its home.

Jonah Rawitz of Chicago, Ill. won Best Actor for playing Usnavi in Into the Heights

The program is also called the Jimmy Awards after Broadway producer James M. Nederlander.

Josey, a sophomore, was the first winner to also take home a Rising Junior award that netted her a six-week summer scholarship to a pre-college drama program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa.

After the 56 competitors performed in medleys during the first act, the judges selected three male and three female finalists during intermission. In the second act, the judges selected winners after the finalists sang solos.

Like the other determined contenders, Dallas Summer Musical High School Musical Theatre Award winners Kaycee Murto of J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson and Matthew Haught of Waxahachie High School in Waxahachie had won best actor or actress honors from their regional competition. The DSM awards program was one of 28 that involved more than 6,000 students from 1,500 high schools nationwide.

Increasingly, participants are grabbing the attention of agents and producers. The 2011 Jimmy Award winner, Ryan McCartan, who hosted the show, made his Off-Broadway debut in the musical Heathers and appears regularly in Liv & Maddie on the Disney Channel and Royal Pains for the USA Network. A finalist from last year, Eva Noblezada, is starring in Miss Saigon in London.

For Murto, the best part “was getting to perform on a Broadway stage with the most amazingly talented group of individuals that are our age,” she said on the phone from New York after the show.

Haught expressed appreciation for the five days of intensive training and rehearsals with professional performers leading up to the big night.

“The highlight for me was I got to become friends with a lot of brilliant people who like to do the same thing I like to do and want to be the same thing I want to be. It was great to spend days rehearsing and performing with them.”

The other male finalists are Matthew Richards of Northridge High School in Logan, UT and Mekhai Lee of Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, N.C. The other female finalists are Brooke Solan of Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, Nev. and Sophia Tzougros of Kettle Moraine School for Arts and Performance in Madison, Wis.

'The Sound of Music' at Coppell High School received 8 nominations in the annual Schmidt and Jones competition, including Best Musical and a Best Actress nod for Emily McIntyre as Maria

Trinity Christian Academy led a pack of 11 contending schools with 11 nominations in 14 categories, including Best Musical, for its production of Oklahoma!, when Lyric Stage released its fourth annual Schmidt and Jones recognition of excellence in high school musical theater this week.

North Crowley High School followed close behind with 10 nominations for Ragtime, which was also one of the five best musical nominees. Boswell High School and Carroll Senior High School tied with nine apiece.

Lyric Stage fans will see a familiar face in Emily McIntyre, who nabbed a Best Actress nomination for Maria in The Sound of Music at Coppell High School. McIntyre won the Best Actress award two years ago for her performance as Belle in the Beauty and the Beast. She followed up by winning the Rising Junior Award in the national contest, which won her $7,500 to participate in a six-week pre-college drama program at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Schmidt and Jones Awards is one of the three major high school musical theater awards programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has had its best actor and actress winners named as finalists in the National High School Musical Theater Awards competition, also known as the Jimmys, in its first three years. Its winners, along with Casa Manana’s Betty Buckley Musical Theater Award winners, will not compete on the national level this year because of a change in the rules that mandates sponsoring theaters be members of the Broadway League.

Dallas Summer Musicals, which held its third annual DSM High School Musical Theatre Awards ceremony Wednesday, will be the only North Texas theater to send a best actress and actor to the national competition, which will be held June 30 at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. Their competitors will be Kaycee Murto of J.J. Pearce High School for her role as Lady of the Lake in Spamalot and Matthew Haught of Waxahachie High School for his role as Adolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone.

The awards will be announced in a production that will feature scenes from the five nominated musicals, plus a scene from Lyric Stage’s upcoming production of Titanic, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Carpenter Performance Hall at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArther Blvd. Irving. Tickets are $25, but will not be on sale to the public until after the schools purchase their blocks. Any seats not purchased by the schools will be on sale May 21. 972-252-2787. lyricstage.org.

Here’s are the nominees:

BEST MUSICAL: Coppell High School, The Sound of Music; North Crowley High School, Ragtime; Parish Episcopal School, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Trinity Christian Academy, Oklahoma!; Woodrow Wilson High School, Funny Girl

National High School Musical Theater Awards finalist Michael Burrell is heading to Texas State in San Marcos to study musical theater in the fall

Taylor Vargo from Newtown, Conn. won best actor and Sarah Lynn Marion from Fullerton, Calif. won best actress at the fifth annual National High School Musical Theater Awards, also known as the Jimmys, at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre Monday night. The prize was a $10,000 scholarship.

It was a highly competitive journey for the 62 contenders who had been culled from 50,000 students in 20 states. After nearly a week of intense rehearsals and workshops with Broadway theater professionals at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, each sang medleys during the first act. Six finalists — three girls and three boys — were announced during intermission and got a chance to sing their solos in the second act as they vied for the top honors.

Texas had eight students in the competition, two from Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars, and six from Dallas Fort Worth: Cameron Wenrich and Dakota Ratliff of Dallas Summer Musicals DSM High School Musical Theatre Awards, Bo Graham and Sakyiwaa Baah of Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones Awards and Ben Allen and Sarah Roach of Casa Manana’s Betty Buckley Awards.

While Texas was not in the finals, one finalist is heading to Texas. Michael Burrell, 18, of Orange County, Calif., will be studying musical theater at Texas State in San Marcos in the fall.

His success was also a triumph for his coach, Mary Anna Dennard of Dallas. Dennard, owner of College Audition Coach, exchanged fast and furious texts from Dallas with Burrell’s mother in New York.

“There were a lot of exclamation marks,” Dennard says.

This marks the third year in a row that Dennard has coached a finalist. Dennard, who wrote the self-published book, I Got In, that has been given to all of the contestants as part of a welcome package for the last two years, coached male finalists Mackenzie Orr and Drew Shafranek of Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones Awards in 2011 and 2012 respectively and last year’s best actress winner, Elizabeth Romero from Huntington Beach High School in California.

Dennard says she felt Burrell had a good shot from the beginning.

“I told everyone to keep an eye on him. He’s got a beautiful baritone voice, he’s a very sensitive, tender-hearted young man, he’s gorgeous, six feet tall, a classic, contemporary leading man and he always stands out.”

She says she thinks the local contenders grew as performers and acquitted themselves well.

“They had an incredible experience,” she says. “Everyone in the country recognizes that Texas has an enormous amount of young talent. The colleges come here to recruit because they know it’s a bedrock for talent.”

The six local Dallas/Fort Worth contenders may have been shut out of the fifth annual National High School Musical Theater Award winners circle Monday in New York, but one of the three male finalists, Michael Burrell of Orange County, Calif., is headed to Texas State in San Marcos to study musical theater.

Taylor Vargo from Norwich, Conn. won best actor and Sarah Lynn Marion from Fullerton, Calif won best actress at the fifth annual competition at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, each walking away with a $10,000 scholarship, the Associated Press reported.

It was a competitive journey for the 62 students who had been culled from 50,000 students in 20 states, according to AP. Each sang medleys during the first act. Six finalists — three girls and three boys, including Burrell — were announced during intermission and got a chance to sing their solos in the second act as they vied for the top prize.

Longtime professional theater coach, Mary Anna Dennard, owner of College Audition Coach in Dallas, was a winner, too — behind the scenes. She has taught finalists and winners three years in a row, including finalists Mackenzie Orr and Drew Shafranek of Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones Awards in 2011 and 2012 respectively. She coached Burrell this year as well as McKenzie Kurtz, a sophomore who won the Carnegie Mellon award. She also wrote the book, I Got In, which has been included in all the contestants’ welcome bags two years in a row.

From Cameron: My fellow medley members (excluding Rynne who was in the bathroom) in costume!

As we wait for news of the big performance and awards at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre to trickle in, here are reflections from yesterday’s last big day of preparation by DSM High School Musical Theatre Award winners Cameron Wenrich of Plano Senior High School and Dakota Ratliff of Ryan High School.

DAKOTA:

Today we finally finished the opening and closing number. After that we performed our different medleys for the director and the other nominees, which was a blast. We spent the majority of our time today cleaning everything, and I’m so excited for the show tomorrow. We ate lunch then dressed in our character costumes for the medleys (I had missed being my Audrey [from Little Shop of Horrors] more than I realized). Performing for the judges was more fun than anything else, and after that we changed again into our black dresses for our solos. I was a little nervous for the solos, but I tried not to be and just have a great time singing. We gathered at the end of the day in a big group around our choreographer, and as she started talking about everything that would be happening tomorrow I just couldn’t believe that I actually will be performing on a Broadway stage. This whole experience has been so rewarding, and I hope it shows tomorrow in our show. Wish us broken legs!

CAMERON:

I’m on a serious high right now because today was so epic. We started off the day by perfecting the opening number and proceeded to finish choreographing the finale–and might I say, both numbers are phenomenal. Next we finalized our medley numbers and performed them for the judges (just for fun; they don’t get scored until tomorrow).

After that it was time to perform our solo pieces for the judges… Probably the most nerve-racking experience I’ve had in a while. And it didn’t help that I chugged a bottle of water before the solos started and couldn’t leave the room the entire time (not an ideal situation for a nervous actor with a small bladder). However, I pulled myself together and did nearly the best performance of my solo that I could’ve done.

That being said, I think everyone did their best performance tonight, based on what I’ve seen throughout the week. I can’t get over how insanely talented these fellow nominees are. So now the grueling part is over, and I can relax and enjoy my first time performing on a Broadway stage! I get to sleep in a bit tomorrow, but it’ll still be one of the most taxing days we’ve had so far. In the end, I know all the hard work will be worth it. Even if I don’t “place” in the top 3 male performers, I’ve had the experience of a lifetime, and nothing can take that away from me. I’m beyond anxious to see what happens tomorrow night!

Lovejoy High School's Bo Graham takes it in stride as his name goes up on the big screen inside Broadway's Minskoff Theatre

Think it would be overwhelming to see your name up on a big screen on Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre? Lovejoy High School’s Bo Graham, Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones best actor winner, takes it in stride.

Today’s the big day for 62 high school musical theater contenders at the National High School Musical Theater Awards, aka the Jimmys. Bo is one of six from Dallas/Fort Worth and Texas has two more from Houston. We’ll keep you posted on their progress here, at Facebook.com/DallasMoms and Twitter @nchurnin.

It’s happening — our six DFW high school musical theater winners, plus two more from Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars, are among the 62 arriving at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre for rehearsals leading up to the big show and awards ceremony tonight. Stay tuned for updates here about Dallas Summer Musicals’ DSM winners Cameron Wenrich and Dakota Ratcliff, Casa Manana’s Betty Buckley winners Ben Allen and Sarah Roach and Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones winners Bo Graham and Sakyiwaa Baah at Facebook.com/DallasMoms and @nchurnin.

Monday at the Minskoff — Monday is the day the 62 high school musical theater award nominees from around the country, including two from Houston’s Tommy Tune Awards and our six from Dallas/Fort Worth: Dakota Ratliff and Cameron Wenrich from the DSM High School Musical Theatre Awards, Ben Allen and Sarah Roach of the Betty Buckley Awards and Sakyiwaa Baah and Bo Graham of the Schmidt and Jones Awards.

Here are the latest updates from Dakota and Cameron:

DAKOTA:

Today started off a little scary when we had to sing our solo songs in front of all of the other nominees. It was amazing witnessing so much talent in one room, and after a while it wasn’t stressful.

Dakota: We stopped for frozen yogurt on the way back to the dorms (Cameron got French toast flavored)

After that we worked on cleaning up our medleys, and I had the chance to really get to know the other girls I was working with. Once we cleaned up all of the medleys we finished staging the opening number. It has turned out to be pretty fantastic, and it gets more and more exciting each time we go through it. When we finished for the day we stopped for some frozen yogurt and headed back to Founder’s Hall. Only one more day of rehearsal before the show!

CAMERON:

Cameron was thrilled to meet Corey Cott, star of Newsies, after dinner at Tisch at NYU. Cameron: I got to have a nice little chat with him and snapped a picture.

Today was full of pleasant surprises! The first pleasant surprise was bumping into Corey Cott, star of Newsies, after dinner at Tisch. I got to have a nice little chat with him and snapped a picture.

The second was getting out at 9:00 tonight to catch up on some sleep. We started the day by watching everyone’s solo performances, and each nominee is clearly here for a reason–the talent is remarkable. But I’d say that Dakota and I are holding our own! Next we finished choreographing our medley and moved straight into finalizing the opening number. Thus, everything except the finale is blocked! Hooray!

Tomorrow we’ll be performing our solos for the judges and that performance, as well as how we do in our medleys, will decide the top 3 male and top 3 female performers. Those 6 will be announced at the show on Monday and they’ll sing their solo again on the Minskoff stage. The top performers will be picked off one by one (apparently) until the best actor and actress are left. Let’s hope Dakota and I get to do a solo performance on Broadway!

Just two days away from Monday at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre for our Dallas/Fort Worth high school musical theater award nominees! Our six, from Lyric Stage, Casa Manana and Dallas Summer Musicals, are in the thick of rehearsals and coaching. Here’s an update from DSM High School Musical Theatre Award best actress and best actor winners Dakota Ratliff and Cameron Wenrich.

DAKOTA:

Another busy day rehearsing (which is more fun than it sounds). We started off again by reviewing the music for the opening and closing then broke off to our coaching sessions. Throughout the lesson it was really amazing to see how myself and the other nominees progressed.

I’ve learned so much already and feel like I’m growing as an artist, which was the whole objective of being here in the first place. We had a costume parade and it was fun seeing everyone as their characters. After that we staged the majority of the opening number. Today we got a lot of work done, but we still have much more to do before the show Monday.

CAMERON:

Schele Williams with Cam, Dakota and the other nominees she is coaching

Today was action packed. We immediately continued choreographing the opening number after breakfast, then went to vocal training and worked medleys (you know the drill by now). Today was the last day with Schele, and she lived up to my expectations, once again, of being phenomenal. She’s part psychologist, part voice teacher, part superhero. She makes her students do creative exercises to establish serious connections to their song (for example: I packed a bag during one of my run-throughs as I was saying goodbye to “Sarah” in my solo, which brought out a little more aggression in my voice).

Cam listening to his roommate, John Clay III, practicing his song

After a dinner break, we did a costume parade and continued to choreograph, and ended the night with a discussion with Charles Wood, a Tony-nominated playwright (whose first show was titled Lesbian Vampires of Sodom). I’m finishing this night by listening to my roommate, John Clay III, sing an incredible rendition of “Make Them Hear You” [from Ragtime].

I’m loving every minute of this journey and can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds.

Lyric Stage's Schmidt and Jones winners Sakyiwaa Baah and Bo Graham arrive in New York

We’re happy to report that Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones winners Sakyiwaa Baah, who won the Best Actress award for Miss Adelaide in ‘Guys and Dolls’ at MacArthur High School, and Bo Graham, who won best actor for Seymour in Lovejoy High School’s Little Shop of Horrors, have arrived safely in New York along with chaperone and Lyric Stage founding director Steven Jones. Now they’re heading to the National High School Musical Theater Awards competition which will culminate in an awards show at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre where all the teens will perform.

We’ll keep you updated on Sakyiwaa and Bo, along with our four other talented local teens that will be joining them soon: Dallas Summer Musicals’ DSM winners Dakota Ratliff and Cameron Wenrich and Casa Mañana’s Betty Buckley winners Ben Allen and Sarah Roach.

I saw the DSM High School Musical Theatre Awards live, but can’t wait to see the WFAA Channel 8 video of the show Sunday at 2 p.m. Here’s a preview of one of my favorite parts: the Best Actor Medley, the only place where you’ll see the Tin Man and Jean Valjean in the same scene.